A Erudite and Amity
by EmmyEeveeZorua
Summary: Spoilers for PL6. Descole needs an assistant, much to his chagrin. But when the only applicant is an 8-year-old girl who broke into his house, he has no choice but to bring both her and Raymond to Rudyville, a place rumored to be the location of an ancient Azran artifact, along with being a Targent base. Unfortunately, a man is murdered and Descole and co. are the first suspects.
1. Chapter 1

**An: I know the title of the story makes it sound like a Divergent fan fiction, but I was reading it and thought Amity would be a good name for a character, and since Erudite sums Descole up pretty well... Well, it became a title. Anyway, please enjoy. **

_The small girl sitting on the porch disliked rainy days, as they simply made her life more difficult. But she had nowhere to go, and the poster did say to come here if the applicant needed to. Well, it had actually said to call, but the girl didn't have any means of doing that. So she had decided to do what she could, which was sit and wait for the owner of the house to come home. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but now she was having second thoughts about it. For starters, it was pretty cold, and she was soaked from standing in the rain without a decent umbrella. Second, she was hungry, and was lacking a decent way to get food. The house was locked, of course, preventing her from getting inside easily, and she had thought it rude to dismantle the system at the time. _

_But as of now, it was the only thing she could do. Standing up, the girl stumbled over to the door, narrowly tripping over a metal pipe in the process. Regaining her balance, she studied the security lock. It seemed to be a computerized puzzle lock, one that forced the user to solve a puzzle before entering the password. Smiling, the girl quickly solved the puzzle. This was easy! She'd be inside soon enough! Even the password was no problem. All she had to do was attach the little machine she had brought with her to the lock, and force any password she pleased into the lock to make it open. _Bing! _The lock opened, and the girl pushed the door open._

_She was greeted by a burst of warm air. The house was much warmer than the outside world, like she had hoped. Quietly removing her muddy rain-boots, the girl entered the house. She looked around, taking in the nice and neat hallway and was grateful she had removed her muddy boots. She had already committed a crime (sort of) by breaking into the house, so the least she could do was keep the house clean. The girl, tired from the cold, wandered into the living room, and fell asleep on the couch, unaware that the owners of the house where on their way home._


	2. Chapter 2

Raymond looked at Jean (currently disguised as Desmond Sycamore) across the library table. "Raymond, I still can't believe you did it," scowled Desmond, poking his head around the stacks of books on the table. "We don't need an assistant!" "Desmond, are you still complaining about that?" Raymond asked him. "I am not complaining, I am merely stating the redundancy of needing an assistant!" "Desmond, you've been getting a load of paperwork lately, even for an employed 20-year-old and we could both use an extra set of hands. So quit complaining." The younger male groaned, and dropped the book he had been reading (one about the Azrans) on the table. "I still think it's redundant." "Ok, whatever you say." The older man chuckled, and returned to his own book, one about cooking. The two sat in silence for many minutes, with Desmond shooting Raymond dirty looks every so often.

_Beep! Beep! Beep! _The sound of Desmond's alarm sounded throughout the quiet library. "Shit," Desmond whispered, quickly turning off the alarm. "Someone's broken into the house," "What!?" Raymond exclaimed, earning many strange looks. "Lower your voice," hissed Desmond. "I don't know if it's Targent or not. Either way, we have to get home." "Alright," Raymond agreed. The two men got up quietly, and calmly walked out the library door. Once they got out, they raced to the car as fast they could, getting drenched in rain along the way. The entire drive home was silent, and they were home in less than 10 minutes, running numerous red lights along the way.

"Who do you think broke in?" asked Raymond, exiting the black car. "I don't bloody know." Desmond responded, his face ashen. "I hope it's not..." he trailed off. Raymond nodded. "I hope it's not your father, either." he agreed. "But there is the possibility," Desmond sighed. "I know Raymond, but I still can't believe he'd sink so low." The duo ran quickly up the sidewalk and onto the porch of the house they shared. "Look at this!" The younger man howled, gesturing to the lock on the slightly open front door. The older male stared at his employer, confusion on his face. "Gaahh, you don't see it, do you?" Desmond groaned. "Whoever got into the house used a special machine to ruin the password. And the only people I know for a fact to have a machine like this is Targent, except this one is more complicated and advanced then the ones that damn organization uses."

Desmond plucked the machine off the lock, and pocketed it. "Should we go in the house?" Raymond suggested, hoping the answer would be no. This question earned him an angry look from Desmond, and a response of "Of course!" He pushed the door open, and slipped in.


	3. Chapter 3

**An: I'm back! And I've realized the I completely forgot to mention that this story happens years before the first trilogy, around 19-20 years according to my math. I'm not sure if it's accurate, but I've read that Layton was six when separated from his family (but it was on Wikipedia, and I should be skeptical of it's accuracy. But the same site says Aurora's wish of being reborn as a human was granted, and I'd like to believe that), and I'm guessing that Desmond is two years older than his sibling, so he's 17-18 in this story, Layton is 15-16, and Emmy is 5-6, even though the latter two are only mentioned and make no true appearances. But since the only ages on record are Layton's and Luke's, this could be completely wrong, especially since I'm guessing Emmy is 25 in Last Specter. **

**Bronev: Congrats, Armin, you've been watching too much Game Theory. Lots of math for a simple thing.**

**Armin: I've also realized I have no idea what Sycamore's character is like, even though I've writing and planning three stories with him in them. Can someone please tell me his character? I'm sorry to ask, but I'd rather not take shots in the dark... I also apologize if any of the following dialogue is confusing.**

* * *

Raymond stared at the turquoise couch in disbelief. "So the person who broke into our house and all but destroyed our security system is a _little girl_?! He turned to Desmond, who didn't seem very surprised to see a sopping wet child fast asleep on their couch. "You don't seem surprised. How on earth did you know?" The younger man smirked, pleased with his deductions. "It was quite obvious from the moment I entered the house. I almost tripped over a pair of child's rain boots, a pair of boots you thought were our own. Also, the machine on our lock was quite simple in the making." The machine had looked pretty complex to Raymond, so he decided to take the other's word for it.

"Ok, I'll admit that was impressive to spot in a dark house, Desmond, but the question remains: Why is this adorable little girl in our house? She should be at home with her family." Raymond looked at his employer. "Could you please explain that to me?" Desmond glared at him as though the very question was an insult to his intelligence. "Of course I can explain, Raymond! If you look at Missy's hands closely, you will notice that she's holding one of the adverts for an assistant you put up. She most likely come to apply for the job, realized we weren't home, and broke into the house to wait for us. It's a good thing she did, as she would of most likely caught the flu." He looked at Raymond, a smug expression on his face. "Is that a good enough explanation for you?" "Yes Desmond, it was. But now that we know why this little girl is in our house, what should we do with her?" "We call a Children's Home, of course."

"Why do you need to call a Children's Home?" A small voice asked, causing the two men to turn towards the couch. The little girl had woken up from her nap, and was pushing her pig-tailed platinum blond hair out of her emerald-eyes. "Why do you need to call a Children's Home? You're not going to send me there, are you?" She looked so pitiful that even Desmond looked uncomfortable. "Um, I was-" "But why? I came here to be your assistant. Are you sending me away because I'm short? That's not fair!" "Missy, I'm not sending you away because your height, it's because of your youth. You're two young."

At this, the girl went scarlet. "I am not too young! I'll prove it too you! I'll do whatever you wish!" Desmond tilted his head mockingly, inspecting the child as though she were a machine. "Alright. You'll answer each and everyone of the questions asked of you, and you'll do a small task at the end of the questioning session. Agreed?" The child nodded her head, her green eyes flashing. "Agreed. What's the first question?" "What is your name, age, and country of origin?" She sniffed, her platinum hair swishing. "My name is Amity Gatti, I am eight, and I was born here in England." Amity looked at the man quizzing her. "What is the next question?" "Eager, are we? Why are you alone?" "I ran away. I would rather not say why. Family issues" "Since you're being agreeable, I'll respect your wishes, and not ask the question about family. What do you consider your weaknesses?" The blond girl looked at Desmond suspiciously. "That's an odd question." "She's got a point," Raymond pointed out. "It is odd." "I know it's odd, but she has to answer any question thrown at her. So, what do you consider your weaknesses, Miss Gatti?"

"My weaknesses are that I cannot swim, I get headaches often, and I'm picky." Amity pulled at one of her pigtails. "Mr., are we done?" Despite the girl seemingly annoying him, Desmond smiled. "Almost. Just two more. What would you consider your talents?" "I'm smart, I'm ok at gymnastics, and I'm a good pickpocket." "Okay... This is the last question. "Did you see anyone else coming to apply?" "What? You mean, you're not going to let me stay?" The blond girl looked hurt, and Raymond couldn't blame her. "Desmond..." "Raymond, she's simply too young. Now Miss, you should probably leave tomorrow. I'll let you stay tonight." Amity looked crushed, and sighed. "Okay. Where will I be staying?" The older man pointed up the stairs. "You can stay in our guest room. It's the first room on the left." "Thank you, sir." The small girl brushed past the two men and walked up the stairs. Once she had left, Raymond turned to Desmond. "That was rude. She thought you were going to let her stay. So did I, for a matter of fact." "I'm sorry, Raymond, but as I said before, she's simply too young. Now I'm going to go down the basement and work on my machines." He started towards the basement door and reached for the key in his pocket. A confused look crossed his face. "Raymond? Do you have the basement key? Because I don't."


End file.
